The Story of The $2 Trillion Not-So-Secret Garden

hank

Gather around, everyone, for the story of the $2 trillion Not-So-Secret Garden:

Long ago, a gardener planted an iPhone.
“It’s not good for a gadget to be alone,” he said.
So he grew crops of iPads, Apple Watches and AirPods, and summoned an iCloud in the sky to connect and replenish them.
Many people came to the garden to enjoy its delights.
The gardener was happy, until he saw some people wandering out.
So he stacked bricks, one atop another, with names like iMessage, Apple Photos, AirDrop, Apple Fitness+ and so on, until they formed a high perimeter.
Then the people never left.

Excerpted from: WSJ June 4, 2021 (author Joanna Stern)

Just bought an Air-Tag after a frustrating experience misplacing my keys earlier in the week. The new $35 gadget seems to work. I considered buying another to hang from a shopping cart - which I habitually loose track of in large stores. However, I doubt the thing is loud enough to be heard over the noise.

Mark

My latest attempt at stepping outside this garden for a bit involved purchasing a windows 10 desktop computer to replace my older windows 7 assembly which was a nightmare to upgrade. Bottom line was that the new desktop refused to allow or accept the appearance and/or operational changes I wished to make and kept defaulting to the preprogrammed versions. Also while using applications every time I made an entry the application would quit and had to be restarted (TurboTax if anyone is interested). IMHO windows 10, Edge, Bling or Bing whatever are just garbage and I don’t need my computer telling me that I am not the administrator of it. Waiting now for the iMac 24 with the M-1 chip.

Sven

@Mark, I often get frustrated with the Windows 10 PC at work. Several years ago Mac computers were introduced in the workplace and our lives became very good. Our kids got the new M1 MacAir for school and they absolutely love them. My old iMac at home still run well but the latest upgrade to Big Sur causes compatibility issue with few old legacy software. No problem with TurboTax.

JonGaltIII

@hank I find the most interesting feature of the Air Tag - it’s use of other iPhones and iOS devices in the area to locate your Air Tag. This uses less battery. So, the next time you are in the supermarket, you can thank everyone you see with an iPhone for helping you find your air tag equipped cart.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/21/apple-airtag-relies-on-massive-iphone-installed-base.html

Crash

I'm accustomed, by now, to the MacBook Air I have, vs. the Microsoft Windows I formerly used. But I severely do not like being drawn into the Apple World/Garden, with all of its proprietary crap. Apple wants to OWN you. Example: My mouse went dead. It's cordless, so hooked up through Bluetooth. Suddenly, with no warning, it died. OK, go to Settings. Then click on Bluetooth. OK, I see that crazy set of letters and numbers which LUCKILY, I know to be the mouse. So, it's "in there." But the display says "not connected." WTF??? I never disconnected it. My nephew tells me that if my mouse was an Apple product, it would alert me as to the strength of the battery. But not with my Logitech mouse. I have decided to go with a corded mouse, next time. I won't go back to Windows. Buggy, inferior crap. ..... Further: it does not help anything for Apple to arbitrarily re-define words. So that black is really white. "The Apple Store." Ya, well. A STORE is where you go to spend money to get things. But Apple shows me "purchasing" some things I happened to bump into there, for FREE. A "store" where (some) things are FREE???? THAT is why I've avoided the "Apple Store," from the get-go. I don't need any add-ons that must be PAID for. But some things in the "store" are free? Crazy, stupid and counter-productive.